PM TO MPS: REFUSE TO BE USED BY CORRUPTION CARTEL

EZULWINI – “Asibebete umsekenya.”

This phrase, which loosely means being beyond reproach, was used by the Prime Minister (PM), Russell Mmiso Dlamini, when advising members of the House of Assembly Portfolio Committee of the PM’s Office stance against corruption. He said corruption had become a huge cartel and corrupt people did not have the interest of the country at heart. Dlamini said such people wanted everyone to be corrupt. He stated that it did not matter the position, but if they hindered efforts to fight corruption, they were against curbing same and they were known. He said the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) and police were also there to assist in this regard. The PM said the escalating level of corruption was destroying the country and had roots. He stated that there were corrupt individuals who were fighting that those who were not corrupt should be sabotaged and get them arrested and not succeed in life as they were a threat.

Legislators

He said if the legislators had umsekenya (things they did not want to be known), it was easy for the media to use that against them and they could find themselves having taken a decision that they may not have taken if they were clean. Dlamini urged the legislators not to take money from those who would lobby them. “Let us refuse to be influenced to make the wrong decisions through money and through lobbying, but look at whether the country is benefitting through the decisions we take.” He said they should look at the issue they were urged to support critically, on whether it would be of benefit to the country and take a decision based on all the above-mentioned components. “Avoid making a decision because someone has given you money to vote or support a particular idea.”

This, he said, would destroy the country as people who had money would approach them and as a result pass laws that would lead the nation to another path to benefit those with money, even if they were not locals. He said this had happened in the past Parliament, where legislators who took legitimate decisions were not voted back into the House. The PM stated that the reason was that their decisions were unpopular with certain people in power, who did not like them. Dlamini said this was not how the current Parliament should operate. “Let us open our eyes and ears and analyse this carefully, and if there is something which is not right, it should be exposed.” He said the legislators should come out clean and expose those who wanted to give them money to gain favours. The PM said the MPs could even take the money to present it as evidence.

According to Dlamini, it did not matter who was lobbying or asking for the favour. The PM added that there was still a chance to repent for those who might have fallen into the trap of corruption. He advised that they should become upright from today going forward.  Furthermore, the PM added that government departments should have the mindset of being ambitious in order for the country to be able to come up with strategies, among others, to reduce poverty by creating wealth. “If you create wealth, you are reducing poverty.” Dlamini said it was very important that as government and MPs, they reconsidered their way of thinking.  Emphasising,  he said: “We all must understand that our thinking is mostly influenced by what we read and watch. This has led to the way we look down upon ourselves as a nation.”

Dlamini mentioned that for instance, most of the buildings in the country were small in size. In 10 years’ time, he said, they would even be smaller, because they have been influenced to think small. “I will give another example”, the PM stated that some years ago, His Majesty King Mswati III shared his vision of building a highway in Eswatini and many people were opposed to the idea and thought it was not necessary. However, Dlamini said time had proven that even the highways in the country were no longer sufficient to accommodate our traffic volumes. With these examples, the PM said he was trying to make the legislators understand that it was time they started thinking big and be confident of who they were and be patriotic while doing so. To change the mindset of people, he stated that there was a need for quality education,  which is why they had charged the Ministry of Education and Training to review the entire education system to ensure that it is world-class and fits into His Majesty’s vision of a First World country - from primary level all the way to tertiary.

Post your comment

Your name:

Your e-mail address:

Add your comments:

Please enter the code you see in the image:

Image:

Code: